Minot rent prices collapse

April 15, 2015

Zach Koppang | Energy Media Group

Rumors continue to abound in the Bakken about how the boom is over and the bust is here. Despite various pipeline projects in the works and approximately 900 wells awaiting completion, economic indicators such as rent prices are suggesting that although the Bakken might not be busted, the economic landscape of the region is beginning to return to normalcy, much to the chagrin of property owners and rental agencies.

Rental prices in Minot, North Dakota, have recently taken a steep dive. The city is located on the peripherals of the Bakken formation and was a former key player for oil and gas activity. In 2013, the city had a recorded population of roughly 46,000. But now, many oil and gas firms are shifting their focus to the long-term viability of the shale play and boomtowns such as Williston and Watford City are continuing to expand in attempts to attract a more permanent workforce.

It seems rental prices in Minot are now, however, on a steady decline. Rental agencies are beginning to lower rent prices in order to attract tenants but with no avail. Despite the price reductions, one rental agency that wished not to be named has received no inquires. Average apartment prices have dropped to about $1,000 per month for a two bedroom apartment. Five bedroom houses are now renting at roughly $2,000 per month.

Currently, Prairie Property Management is offering two months free rent with a $500 deposit at a monthly rate of $1,900 for a three bed and three bath unit. IRET Properties, a property management agency operating in Minot, has listings for one bedroom apartments as low as $650 per month while three bedroom apartments are listed as low as $1050 per month. These prices are a substantial decrease from the listing prices renters were facing even a year ago, let alone at the beginning of the boom.

Amidst the slowdown, oil and gas operators are retreating further into the core of the Bakken. Recently, Halliburton announced that it would be closing its Minot facility and transferring many of the jobs to its facilities located in Williston and Dickinson. The company shut down the facility the beginning of this month due to the changing needs of its customers, Halliburton spokeswoman Susie McMichael told the Associated Press.

As activity, shifts to the heart of the Bakken, there is less demand for housing in the surrounding areas. But even in the Bakken’s core, rent prices are beginning to drop. Williston and Watford City once had rent prices that rivaled metropolitan areas such as New York and San Francisco. Tenants that were formerly sleeping in their cars due to a lack of housing are now able to negotiate rental prices in properties that were formerly able to heavily scrutinize who they would rent to.

Terry Metzler of Granite Peak Development told Reuters, “You’re starting to see prices fall this year as more units come online.” Other property managers reported that for now, they are having no trouble filling vacancies, at least in Williston and Watford City. Minot, however, seems to be facing a different issue.

210 comments

ok so i live in minot and have since 1999. What about us all of u sitting there complaining about prices because u work in the oil feild did u people for get that it affected all of us we live in a 2 bed appartment because we cant afford anything else and we have children that are 14 and 9 a boy and girl do u people seriously thing my kids want to share a room NO but they have to so we can just get by. its not just u oil people working for the oil that it affected it was everyone

I am moving to Minot and it will be for a permanent position. Don’t know if I will stay there for the rest of my life or not. I plan to buy a house but the houses are very expensive right now and I am worried that if I do buy right now that the market may continue to drop. I don’t want to end up buying a $300-$400K house that a year later is only worth half that amount. Anyone know if the market is supposed to continue to drop or is this the bottom now?

This is called the law of supply and demand. When the demand was extremely high, prices necessarily had to rise. Now that demand is greatly lower the prices have to come down to create equilibrium again

Well for what they charge people to try and have a place to live they should have them paid off by now ! Sorry I don’t feel sorry for them ! It’s about time that all the hard working oilfield hands that leave there families and homes get some kind of a break with all the cut in work and hours were getting right now ! That needs to happen in Inflation city I mean Williston !

I agree. The slum lords that rape people for their hard earned money in williston has to stop. $3400 for a 3 bedroom trailer? That’s not even morally right. It’s more expensive to live in Williston than it is here in San Diego.

What hacks me off the most is when all these people are saying ” oh you work in the oil field you can afford it ” 65% of the people that come up here already have homes there paying for with bills there already paying so then they come up here to pay for those and then these people charge them 3 times what the avg rate is to have a place to bed down at night so they can continue paying there already stacking bills and house payments back home ? I’m also curious how it is that banks give mortgage loans here ! Some of these houses there building so poorly and cheap and fast ar being sold for 350,000 ? And you can’t even pee off the front porch without hitting the neighbors front door ? Oilfield is huge in oklahoma where I’m from and you can build a mansion for what these idiots are charging people ! But I guess I can’t complain because people are paying it !

If people would think they charge so much because outsiders come out here for only one reason… “”To make the big oilfield money”” leave their families.. Come out here trash everyplace they live cause they don’t care… Completely trash “”small town America”” for THEIR OWN GREED… Then complain because the people that suffered here most of their life want to take advantage of the outsider scum who will leave after trashing everything… If you don’t like the rent or “”Oilfield Prices”” LEAVE… Stop and go back where you came from

Let’s allow 6 figure income people live in $200 month places -the little guy not working in the oilfields are paying the price. My daughters, my grandchildren and I live in a modest mobile home – 10 years ago they lived In apts, lived comfortably , one even took cruises because she worked extra hours. Not complaining – – it’s part of life so others can come and make money. Everyone has choices. It’s the way it is

I’m only speaking about the gouging that has been happening for the past 5 years. Its not fair to anyone, no matter what your income is. Its not fair to the folks that choose to live a normal lives with normal jobs. Its also not fair to the people that have been traveling the country chasing this work trying to support their families.. I was paying just as much in rent as i was all my bills back home. On top of that, all my flights home at 900 a pop. I didnt make out that good. It all hurts us in the end no matter how you look at it.

Hell sorry but you can’t keep screwing the oil field workers ha ha sorry ass holes jump they damm rent just cause we work for the oil company’s you stuffed your pockets long enough hope you lose your rent houses for being so damm gready

Bahahahaha! The same apartment I lived in 16 years ago for $375 I asked about and was told $1500!!!! For a cinderblock 3 story walk up. No thank you. But than god for the locals who might be able to quit their second jobs they had to get just because everyone is greedy.

Rents were and still are too high but not all people here are dishonest. Some of us have been through two or three of these cycles and always end up cleaning up the debris left behind by those who let greed get the best of them. I know people personally who did not raise rents and am proud to call them friends and neighbors. I understand the anger from those who have been wronged though. I hope there’s a bit of room to remember that some here also did the right thing to the best of their ability.

We know that, just like we hope Y’all know the vast majority of us roughnecks are family men, and some like myself have made the commitment to this state and brought our families up to start a new and better life

Thanks Clark. As a family man I tend to think of the families first as well. I hope things turn around and that you’re able to weather the slow down and provide for yours. We have family in AG and friends who work in energy. Both are essential for a strong economy and nation. Those who do not see that are narrow minded and just plain wrong. Best of luck to you Clark.

I am a resident Carolyn. When 5000 workers get laid off that creates vacancies. Thus supply of housing is now exceeding demand. The competition for solid tenants should cause rental prices to moderate. Unfortunately, the vacant rentals are back on the market for $2.50 to $3.00 per square foot per month. That is double market value now. As the vacancies skyrocket, the rental managers will understand simple supply side economics.

I hope the b two bedroom three bedroom and a one bedroom come on they want to over charge people for staying in a two bedroom three bedroom and a one bedroom come on please over price piece of wood anyway

Like I said – daughters don’t come close to oilfield wages, we live together ( 3 and 3 children) In a modest mobile home- have saved money. Life is good,. If things go way down, we can buy up property – for a dime on a dollar. Or maybe a penny on a dollar. My parents had their house on oilfield wages in the 50’s then went bust . Wasn’t easy, but we made it. It’s all how you look at it. We have a warm dry roof over out heads and electricity . Life is good 🙂

I am with your Carolyn, life is good! We relocated from out of state to the oil fields. And well one of us is now unemployed BUT we are not going to let this bust bust us! There is still plenty of work out there, people just need to look.

the rent price is one problem but the biggest problem i find and see in others it that all these rental places are refusing to rent to those with bad or no credit… they seemed to turn their backs on the original nodaks and turned to all the out of staters and oil riggers for their money putting long time minot supports and residents in the streets and homeless….. just saying if minot wants to get their tenants back then they need to get on the ball and do right by the people of minot…..
and thats all i got to say about that….

Well, being here in the Bakken, these people were overly greedy, I bet there a couple thousand empty apartments here! They were counting chicken farms before they hatched the first batch! Serves them right!

It’s basic supply and demand. Just like the crazy high wages in the oilfield because of lack of supply, the rent climbed as demand rose. It works both ways. You can’t make 150k a year and increase the demand for housing and expect to pay 650 a month for a house when there’s so much demand for housing. People come out here expecting to make 6 figures and expect to pay the same amount for housing as the depressed areas they came from. Nobody should wish bankruptcy on landlords. They got what people were willing to pay at the time. Yes it was high but so were the paychecks. I’m not butt hurt about the rent. I didn’t like paying it but that’s the price you pay to be out here.

They didn’t learn from the same things of the past, they came up with new ways to go broke. The rapeing of the workers of $1500 a month has ended and they will go broke. I seen it comeing when it started. People get what is comeing to them off the backs of hard workers when it happens to them.

You guy that talk about prices are to high know it was the perfect stom for housing right? The oil boom just started then minor had the flood. Losing so many houses so quickly raised the prices for homes and intern apartments. So the started building now you have a couple million into an apartment building and the average income of farmers our target market is setting the price. Supply and demand.

Watford City has a ton of new apartments and they just keep building. Dickinson is about the same. Some apartment complexes are looking a little empty. Oh..well…serves those greedy Yankee Investors. Waiting on the Rental Bloodbath to begin……. “Victory for the Workers”.

Idk how I feel it’s kind of 50/50 people out in the oil fields new it wouldn’t last forever and those who thought it would are foolish, not only that but a lot of people who were out paying high rent did it to them selves they acted like show boats showing off they’re bank rolls and deserved to be charged more for their rent because of it, if you want to keep what you have the best advice I can give you is keep your mouth shut and keep a lid on your financial position In this world. The more you you show off the more people want to take advantage of you.

I grew up in Minot. I left after High School. I love Minot. When oil hit big many years ago, I knew a lot of people that were very surprised when the boom ended. prices went up. When prices went up in housing, very few people where surprised.
When things like this happen, there will always be people that are truly hurt. The majority of people see opportunities as a way to better the family situation. Unfortunately, others are not able to see their situation and lump them in with the truly greedy.
This could be a tough situation. So to wish anyone to suffer is a bad way to see things. My opinion…which is probably worthless to a few of you, would be to be gentle. I went through the tech boom. It is what it is. Nothing more than a gamble. I wish the best to those who are struggling and to the city of Minot.

Hello,
I hve been calculating, if I take a job in N.Dakota, then I pay double mortgage, meaning, mortgage home, and rent there, with greedy land lords, it is totally unmoral, those land lords have no moral and business ethics, now they can go piss and shit in those empty units, if you make $8300/month you pay $700 rent, plus gas, food, social life, and mortgage home, plus utility bills, your monthly expense could be close to 1900-2000. so now, you make a math, if it is still worth it to take a job, it is just matter of time, when those rents will skyrocket again, and land lords will start rip you off again, unless you stand up against those fucking momos.

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